How to read this: these lines track how the company manages day-to-day cash. Debtor days is how long customers take to pay; inventory days is how long stock sits before selling; days payable is how long the company takes to pay its own suppliers. Fewer debtor and inventory days generally means cash comes in faster; more days payable means the company holds its cash longer. The right level varies a lot by industry, so the trend over time matters more than any single number.
How to read this: return on capital employed (ROCE) shows how much operating profit the company earns from every unit of capital it uses, as a percentage. A higher, steady line over the years suggests the business uses its capital efficiently. As with most ratios, the multi-year trend tells you more than any single year.
| Period | Debtor Days | Inventory Days | Days Payable | Cash Conversion Cycle | Working Capital Days | ROCE % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 49 | 138 | 154 | 33 | 18 | 8 |
| FY2016 | 71 | 107 | 132 | 45 | 5 | 8 |
| FY2017 | 91 | 159 | 198 | 52 | 33 | 5 |
| FY2018 | 76 | 125 | 177 | 24 | 22 | 7 |
| FY2019 | 48 | 129 | 92 | 86 | 49 | 12 |
| FY2020 | 42 | 127 | 81 | 88 | 39 | 30 |
| FY2021 | 34 | 93 | 55 | 72 | 36 | 20 |
| FY2022 | 46 | 78 | 75 | 48 | -47 | 13 |
| FY2023 | 43 | 286 | 130 | 199 | -26 | 6 |
| FY2024 | 38 | 70 | 68 | 40 | 12 | 20 |
| FY2025 | 46 | 173 | 133 | 87 | 8 | 21 |
| FY2026 | 37 | 166 | 118 | 85 | -23 | 23 |
Plain-English explanations of each figure in the table above, and what a beginner typically looks at. These are educational descriptions only, not advice.